Chapter 36: The mysterious man

The cloaked figure slowly pulled back his hood, and almost everyone immediately regretted looking at him.

His face looked barely human anymore. Dry grey skin clung tightly to his skull in thick cracked layers like ancient bark, while deep wrinkles covered almost every visible part of his head.

Leon made a disgusted face.

"Damn... put the hood back on."

The old man simply smiled at their reactions, revealing several yellowed teeth as he spread his arms slightly.

"Now, now. So many guests have finally arrived, and yet the first thing you do is—"

"Master..."

Everyone turned toward the wall.

The fox Beast Human had lifted her head with obvious difficulty, blood still running down the iron rods piercing her body.

"Master... please stop..."

The old man’s smile disappeared for barely a moment, he moved two fingers.

The Beast Human’s mouth suddenly closed as though something invisible had grabbed her jaw, preventing another word from escaping no matter how hard she struggled.

Karl watched both of them carefully, nothing of what was happening made any sense to him.

The Beast Human had rushed ahead of them, apparently cleared most of the tower and then somehow ended up pinned to a wall while calling this hideous bastard Master.

But figuring out their relationship could wait.

Their goal was still the Divine Flame.

Before anyone moved, a voice suddenly rang throughout the entire Forgotten Cave.

[Congratulations to the First Pioneer, Armando Scythi, for completing the First Phase.]

Everyone froze whilst the old man’s smile widened.

[The Divine Flame has been quenched.]

[The sacrifice has been prepared.]

[The Sovereign of Lies and Deceit is descending.]

Karl stared at the notifications.

Armando Scythi.

So that was the old man’s name.

He tried connecting the announcement with everything that had happened since they entered the Forgotten Cave, but too many pieces were still missing.

Then the Divine Flame erupted and a massive golden beam shot upward from the centre of the chamber and tore straight through the roof, continuing into the sky beyond the tower.

The suddenly one kneeling figure outside became a streak of light and flew toward the beam, then another followed.

Within seconds, thousands of golden figures throughout the city were breaking apart, their bodies turning into streams of light before merging with the pillar above them.

Leon looked through the broken roof.

"What the fuck is happening now?"

Karl tried reaching the system immediately.

System?

System!

The bastard not speaking at important moments.

Atherion clearly had no interest in waiting for an explanation.

"Fuck this."

He pulled out his sword and rushed directly toward the Divine Flame.

"Whatever they’re doing, destroy the damn thing first!"

Armando turned toward him.

"Why are you in such a hurry?"

Atherion ignored him and continued forward.

Then Divine Flame pulsed with a boom as Armando moved his hand and a golden wave exploded through the chamber.

Karl barely managed to raise one arm before it passed straight through his body, leaving no physical wound behind.

Then his status panel changed.

[Corruption Level increased.]

The percentage jumped sharply.

"Shit!"

Leon checked his own panel while several more strands of his hair turned golden almost instantly.

Atherion had stopped as well, his sword still raised while golden patches slowly spread through the ends of his hair.

Seraphine appeared beside Karl.

"Damn."

For once, there was no teasing in her voice.

Karl immediately turned toward her.

"What?"

Seraphine stared at the Divine Flame.

"So that’s what I was smelling."

"You know what this is?"

She pointed toward the golden fire.

"Divinity."

Karl remembered what the system had told him earlier.

"Corrupted divinity?"

Seraphine nodded.

"Very corrupted."

Another wave of golden light moved through the chamber, weaker than the first but still enough to make Karl’s Corruption Level rise again.

Seraphine continued watching the flame.

"There are many ways for a divine existence to accumulate divinity, faith is one of the simplest."

Her gaze shifted toward the countless streams of light entering the beam outside.

"But faith produced like this isn’t pure."

Karl frowned.

"Because they were forced?"

"Exactly."

Seraphine glanced toward him.

"This city was probably the final sanctuary of that being’s believers. Instead of allowing them to die, their god trapped what remained of them here and turned their faith into fuel."

She pointed toward the Divine Flame again.

"Thousands of years of resentment, anger and forced worship mixed into the divinity they continued producing."

Karl looked toward Armando.

"And now?"

"The furnace is refining all of you while that thing prepares an avatar."

Seraphine paused before adding more quietly.

"There are other things I could tell you, but I won’t."

Karl looked at her.

"Why?"

"Undue knowledge brings trouble."

Her expression was unusually serious.

"Especially when gods are involved."

Karl decided not to push further as another notification appeared.

[Corruption Level increased.]

"Yeah, wonderful."

Karl looked at the growing gold spreading through his hair.

"But what the fuck do we actually do before we turn into statues?"

Seraphine pointed toward Armando.

"Kill him."

Seraphine studied the old man for a moment before continuing.

"He is the only genuine source of faith remaining here."

Karl finally understood where she was going.

"The last believer."

"And therefore the final living connection between this realm and the divine existence trying to descend into it."

Seraphine smiled slightly.

"Kill him before the avatar finishes descending."

Karl turned toward Atherion.

"Forget the flame!"

Atherion looked back irritably.

"What?"

"Kill the old man first, we will deal with the flame afterward."

Atherion hesitated for only a moment before glancing toward the golden beam and then at Armando.

"Fine."

Armando chuckled.

"How disappointing."

Karl raised the Death Stick, the chamber was too confined to bring out giants or flood the area with hundreds of undead without getting everyone else trapped between them.

Several smaller summons appeared instead.

The undead knight emerged beside him while skeletal warriors and beasts spread around the chamber, leaving enough room for Leon, Mira and Atherion’s remaining team to move.

Leon cracked his neck.

"Finally something simple, you are dead grandpa"

Atherion attacked first as his sword flashed toward Armando’s neck, but the old man lifted one hand and a translucent golden layer formed between them.

The blade struck it and stopped.

Leon came from the opposite side a moment later.

Qi covered his axe before he brought it down against the same defence, forcing Armando backwards for the first time.

Karl immediately sent the undead knight forward.

Its sword pierced toward Armando’s chest while two skeletal beasts attacked his legs, but golden threads suddenly appeared around the old man’s fingers.

He moved one hand and the knight was dragged sideways.

Its sword missed Armando completely before one of the skeletal beasts was suddenly thrown into it, sending both summons crashing against the wall.

Armando laughed.

"You have reached the final sanctuary and still refuse to understand."

Mira disappeared into his shadow.

She emerged behind him with both daggers already moving toward his back, but Armando twisted one hand and the shadow beneath him suddenly vanished beneath golden light.

Mira’s skill broke halfway through and she landed several metres away.

"You are all destined to die here."

Atherion attacked again.

"Then shut up and make us."

Karl swung the Death Stick and released Death Severance toward Armando’s exposed side.

The curved slash of Death Energy crossed the chamber before Armando raised another golden barrier, but this time Atherion’s sword struck at almost the same moment.

Cracks spread across the defence, while Leon immediately rushed toward them.

"Heavy Slash!"

His axe crashed down and the barrier shattered.

Armando finally moved backwards while Karl’s remaining undead rushed through the opening.

Seraphine watched the exchange from beside him and sighed.

"How troublesome."

Karl turned toward her.

"You planning to keep watching again?"

Seraphine gave him an offended look.

"I was waiting for you children to finish playing."

"Of course you were."

She extended one hand toward him.

"Give me a staff."

Karl stared at her for a moment before opening his storage and quickly searching through the equipment they had collected during the last month.

He pulled out a long dark staff with a metal head and threw it toward her.

Seraphine caught it with one hand, she examined it briefly before looking disappointed.

"Mediocre."

"Then give it back."

Golden light gathered around Armando again.

Seraphine turned toward him and spun the staff once before planting its end against the floor.

Her smile returned.

"Fine."

Several thin golden threads began forming around her fingers.

"Time to take matters into my own hands."

Armando’s expression finally changed slightly when he saw her.

Then another pulse came from the Divine Flame.

The entire chamber trembled as more streams of light rushed into the beam above, and the golden glow behind Armando became brighter.

He spread both hands.

"Your feeble struggle changes nothing."

The floor beneath Karl’s undead lit up.

"Move!"

Several golden spears erupted from below.

Karl pulled two summons away while the undead knight blocked another spear with its sword, and Atherion rushed through the opening before Armando could prepare another attack.

Seraphine raised the staff at the same moment and Golden threads shot across the chamber.

From the wall behind him came a weak voice.

"Master..."

Nobody noticed the fox Beast Human slowly lifting her head again.

Blood ran from the corner of her mouth as she forced the words out.

"Master... must stop."